


The Avatar and His Father

by Nekuyo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Fix-it, Gen, except it changes the whole show entirely, what if, what if it was Gyatso's idea to run away?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 20:56:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6769579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekuyo/pseuds/Nekuyo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Aang hadn't run away by himself? What if he had waited for Gyatso to come and get him and they ran away together? What if they had gotten trapped in that iceberg together? What might have changed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Despite the title, I am not suggesting that Gyatso is Aang's biological father. But he is still Aang's father figure.   
> I was just interested in thinking about how things might've gone down if The Gaang, but specifically Aang, had had a little adult guidance to help them along the way.   
> But there is no way I'm rewriting the whole series. I'm not that good a writer and I don't actually have that many ideas for this.

Aang clung to the vines that surrounded the hole in the roof and clenched his fists around them as he listened to what Monk Pasang was saying.   
“Gyatso, I know you mean well, but you're letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment.” Pasang said, almost as if he simply didn't hear or acknowledge the argument Gyatso was making.  
“All I want is what is best for him.” Gyatso insisted mildly. Aang held his breath, praying to the spirits that Monk Pasang would agree with Gyatso.   
“But what we need is what's best for the world.” Pasang countered. Aang closed his eyes in grief. Not even the elder monks seemed to understand what he was going through.   
“You and Aang must be separated. The Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training.” Monk Pasang said, passing final judgment on the matter. Aang's eyes sprung open in horror, he lay there stunned for a moment before fleeing the scene. 

Aang sat at his window later that day, half paralyzed from the shock he'd gotten from listening in on the council, and half paying attention to the less experienced trainees practicing going around on their air scooters. He felt so betrayed by fate. He knew that someone had to be the Avatar, but did it really have to be him? And did being the Avatar really mean he had to lose everything?  
He sighed and wandered over to his bed. He lay down on it and looked around his room. The Southern Air Temple had been his home for as long as he could remember, and Monk Gyatso had always been there for him. Now everything was going to change.   
“It's not fair.” He murmured. “All the other Avatars got to wait until they were 16 before they had to start training and dealing with these sorts of things...”   
A plan started forming in his head. He sat down at his desk and pulled out a small map of the world. What if he just left? Not forever, but just for a little while? There was still so much he hadn't gotten to do, and he'd never have the time to do them all even after he was done with his training. Not if there really was a war coming. If he could just have some time off....  
Aang was startled by a knock on his door.   
“Aang?” Monk Gyatso called from the other side. “Are you in there?”   
Aang quickly rolled the map and stowed it away as Gyatso entered his room. Aang looked at him and then looked down at the surface of his desk dejectedly.  
“Aang...” Gyatso said. “I'm not going to let them take you away from me.”   
“But what will do you? How can you stop them?” Aang asked.   
“A wild and rebellious idea came to me as I was leaving the council chamber. One I almost discarded as far too irresponsible and selfish... but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was the right thing to do. Would you like to hear it?” Monk Gyatso asked, sitting on the window seat.   
Aang looked up at him, curious despite himself.   
“We should run away.” Gyatso said. Aang's eyes lit up for just a moment before he frowned.  
“But what about my training?” Aang asked.   
“Your Airbending training is nearly complete, there is very little that we can still teach you and I can easily handle that. In the past, Avatars have completely mastered everything there is to know about an element before moving on to the next, but I fear you may not have that luxury. What the world needs now is for you to become rounded in the basics of every element, for you to more quickly realize your powers as an Avatar. We'll go to the Southern Water Tribe and you'll start on your path to learning Water Bending.” Gyatso explained.   
Aang pressed his lips together in thought.  
“And of course, the South Pole is the only place in the world where you can go Penguin Sledding.” Gyatso said slyly. Aang burst out laughing. Gyatso shushed him, his expression turning serious.  
“We will leave tonight. The Monk Tashi will no doubt be coming soon to tell you of your planned departure to the Eastern Temple. After he does, pack your basic supplies. We'll leave on your bison after the rest of the temple goes to sleep.”  
Aang didn't tell Gyatso that he was going to do this anyway, but without him. He didn't say that he hadn't trusted Gyatso to do something like this for him. He just hugged him tightly, grateful that he'd been wrong.  
“Thank you Gyatso.” Aang said softly.   
“I won't be able to keep you safe from your fate forever Aang, and I wouldn't want to try. But I believe you should have your best chance at happiness, war or no war. And I promise, you'll be ready when the time comes.” Gyatso said as he hugged him back. 

That night Aang crept down to the stables, a small bag slung over his shoulder and his staff in hand. The sound of the bison snoring masked just about every other sound in the area, allowing him to move quickly once he was there. Appa was already awake and saddled when he got to where Appa normally stayed. Gyatso was there, tying blankets and tents to the back of the saddle.   
“Are you ready to go Aang?” Gyatso asked, making sure the cargo was secure.  
“Sure am.” Aang said quietly.   
“The Southern Water Tribe is a little over a day's journey from here by bison. But that should be plenty far enough. It will take them a bit to figure out where we went, and then a couple of days to get there if they're in a large enough group. By then you will be well established and well on your way to being a competent waterbender. That should persuade them to take our stance a bit more seriously.” Gyatso said as he got onto Appa's back and pulled Aang up alongside him.  
“You really think that will work? Or are you just stalling?” Aang asked.  
“A little of both. I believe that the council can be made to see reason. But sometimes it takes drastic measures to make old men see outside of their own ideas of what the right path looks like. If this does not work, then we may have to be a bit more conniving.” Gyatso replied as he gathered Appa's reigns and started walking the bison towards the nearby ledge.  
“Gyatso, you're the best.” Aang said with a smile. Gyatso smiled and hugged Aang.  
“We must hurry, so we get a much distance between us and the temple before daybreak.” Gyatso said. “Appa, yip yip.”   
Aang turned and watched as the Air Temple faded away behind them, feeling much better about how his life ahead would look. Traveling the world with Gyatso was one of his favorite things to do. It would be just like before. Except it would be just the two of them this time, and he'd be learning a bunch of new things like waterbending and earthbending and firebending.   
He looked back at Gyatso, who was making sure Appa was on the right track. For the first time in days Aang was actually looking forward to what was to come.   
Neither of them could have predicted what was to come. 

They had traveled well into the morning, dozing lightly on Appa's back when they were sure of his baring, when the storm hit.   
“Our only hope is to try to get into the eye of the storm!” Gyatso shouted, tugging hard on Appa's reigns to steady him.   
“The storm's too big! We won't make it!” Aang shouted back. He was using his airbending to try to deflect the worst of the wind but they were still being tossed around.   
Suddenly a huge wave came up from out of the sea and knocked the flying bison backwards, making both Aang and Monk Gyatso lose their footing and go flying off of the Appa's back. The waved rolled over them and suddenly all three of them were submerged before they knew what was happening.   
The last thing Monk Gyatso recalled was being encased within a bright blue light.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode one prologue-y bit.

“Gyatso! Gyatso, wake up!” Gyatso heard Aang shout from what seemed to be a great distance. His head was cloudy and his limbs felt as if a heavy weight had just been lifted off of them. He felt almost as if he'd just emerged from deep underwater. Unsteady and a bit heavier than normal. 

Monk Gyatso groaned as a pair of hands shook his shoulders gently. When he opened his eyes Aang and two other children, who appeared to be from the water tribe, were hovering over him.

“The hard ice is no place for bones as old as mine to lay down for a rest.” Gyatso said, pushing himself up with a groan. He steadied himself in a standing position with a little help from Aang's shoulder and turned to the two strangers.

“Hello there. Who might you be?” He asked.

“Monk Gyatso, these are two children from the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and her older brother Sokka.” Aang said, formally introducing the two. “Katara, Sokka, this is my mentor Monk Gyatso.” 

"Hello sir, it's a pleasure to meet you." The girl, Katara, greeted. Her brother, it seemed, was a bit more standoffish. An unenthusiastic 'Hey' was his greeting, only after his sister had prodded him.

"Hello. We were just on our way to the Southern Water Tribe before that nasty storm hit. It took us rather by surprise." Gyatso told them.

This information seemed to confuse and worry the two siblings.  
"Storm?" Katara asked.  
"What do you want with the Southern Water Tribe?" Sokka demanded.

Gyatso wasn't sure exactly what to do with this reaction, given that it was so unlike any he'd been expecting.

Seeing how taken aback Gyatso was by Sokka's question Katara spoke up.

"What my brother means to say, is that it's quite rare that we receive visitors. Even the Earth Kingdom traders that we usually get have become pretty scarce, since we haven't much to offer them anymore and the waters can be rather... unfriendly in these parts nowadays."

Gyatso could hear something left unsaid, something the girl clearly thought he knew about, but couldn't fathom what it was.

"Since we're all going the same way, maybe we could give you a lift back to your village." Aang spoke up before Gyatso could formulate a response.

"We don't need a ride!" Sokka said suddenly.

"Really?" Aang asked, "because your boat..." He pointed.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the canoe dashed against the ice flow. It was far beyond an easy repair. Sokka looked at it with horror.

"My canoe!" He ran over to it and proceeded to mourn.

"Once he gets over it I'm sure he'd love a ride home." Katara said in a pleasant tone that suggested Sokka's reaction was a normal source of exasperation for her.

"Great! I'll go get Appa!" Aang shouted enthusiastically. He disappeared behind a wall of ice.

Gyatso and Katara were left standing with each other in somewhat awkward silence. 

“So... You said you got caught in a storm?” Katara asked, going back to her question.

“It was quite fierce. It threw us out of the sky and into the ocean. We're quite lucky to have survived.” Gyatso replied. 

“It's not storm season.” Katara replied. “It's been months since the last big storm.” 

Gyatso frowned. That certainly didn't add up in his recollection, but he didn't think that the girl was lying to him.

“We found you and Aang in an iceberg. You must have been in it for quite a while.” Katara said, sounding hesitant. 

“So it would seem. How long do you suppose it's been?” 

“Are you and Aang really Airbenders?” She asked. 

“We are. We've come from the Southern Air Temple to teach Aang about the ways of life among the Water Tribe.” This was technically true. It was only prudent to be deliberately vague in a situation such as this. Between the odd situation he and Aang had found themselves in and the reaction of the two Water Tribe children, something definitely felt amiss. While he didn't necessarily think anyone in the Southern Water Tribe would wish harm on The Avatar, if there were extenuating circumstances he wasn't aware of that might endanger Aang a little white lie would go a long way. He resolved to have a private talk with the chief as soon as they arrived to clear up any misunderstanding. 

“If that's true then... I think you've been in that iceberg for a very long time. No one in the world has seen an Airbender for a hundred years.” 

“Well then...” Gyatso said quietly, the wind having been stolen from his lungs “It seems as though Aang and I will have quite a lot of catching up to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be totally honest with you guys... I'm diving into this fic somewhat blind. 
> 
> Subsequent chapters are likely to be longer and better put together. But you've got to bear with me as I get my feet under me on this one.


End file.
